Amusement park rides or simply “rides” have been around for more than a century and have been used to entertain millions of visitors to amusement parks, theme parks, carnivals, and fairs, typically by moving one or more riders in each vehicle along a track. For example, roller coasters move passengers rapidly along a track while some theme rides may include slow or show portions as well as fast or thrill portions. Park operators are continually searching for new ride designs to enhance the passenger's experience and to encourage repeated use of a ride, i.e., looking for something that makes the ride different or unique enough each time that a park visitor will take a ride many times.
Some amusement park rides can implement special effects inside the show pod. Amusement park rides implement special effects inside a confined vehicle or show pod. The special effects need to be reset at the end of the ride. Some practical special effects needs to remain in place until after the passengers have exited the vehicle or pod. The vehicle or show pod also requires routine maintenance such as audio and projector calibration that can be tested and/or reset to baseline values as well. Because the calibration is typically not possible to do, practical effects are not used inside a passenger compartment and calibration activities happen less frequently during downtime.